Animal Digestible Food Packaging Initiative

According to the abstract of a paper to be published May 13, 2023 in the Journal of Hazardous Materials https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131090 by researcher with the Australian Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania and others “… there is a need to closely examine the sub-lethal ‘hidden’ impacts of plastic ingestion … Flesh-footed Shearwaters (Ardenna carneipes) are … an apt species to examine these impacts in an environmentally relevant manner … Plastic presence was highly associated with widespread scar tissue formation and extensive changes to, and even loss of, tissue structure within the mucosa and submucosa. Additionally, despite naturally occurring indigestible items, such as pumice, also being found in the gastrointestinal tract, this did not cause similar scarring. This highlights the unique pathological properties of plastics and raises concerns for other species impacted by plastic ingestion. Further, the extent and severity of fibrosis documented in this study gives support for a novel, plastic-induced fibrotic disease, which we define as ‘Plasticosis,’ …” #PlasticWaste #SingleUsePlastic #MicroPlastics @IMASUTAS